348 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
lead the terrier from their young; in this they were successful, as the next 
day I found the young all right. That the old birds should have been 
permitted to live through the spring in such a locality is owing to the close 
season being respected.—H. W. FEILpeEn. 
Breeding of the Red-throated Diver in Ireland. — Writing of this 
species in the new edition of ‘ Yarrell’s British Birds’ (vol. iv., p. 113), 
Mr. Howard Saunders remarks :—“ 'l’o the coasts of Ireland this Diver is 
a regular visitant from autumn to spring, and it appears possible that a few 
pairs breed on some of the numerous lakes of the remote districts of 
Donegal.” Since this observation was published, in September, 1884, 
confirmatory evidence on the subject has come to hand. Mr. R. Lloyd 
Patterson, of Holywood, Co. Down, writes word that on May 26th last a 
nest with two eggs of the Red-throated Diver was found on a small lake near 
Dungloe, in North-western Donegal. Tho discovery was made by the 
keeper of Mr. John Hudman, who forwarded the eggs to Mr. Patterson, by 
whom they were compared with the coloured plates in Hewitson’s and 
Seebohm’s works, and with authenticated eggs of the Red-throated Diver in 
the Belfast Museum. There is no doubt, therefore, that the eggs taken at 
Dungloe have been correctly identified, and an interesting fact has been 
established which previously rested merely on surmise.—J. E. Harrine. 
Ornithological Notes from Oxfordshire—On April 11th I saw a pair 
of Grey Wagtails near a spring in a railway-cutting at Adderbury; I only 
know of one instance of this species breeding in North Oxfordshire. Both 
the House Martin and Swift arrived earlier than I have ever known them 
to do before, the former on the 17th and the latter on the 27th April. The 
water at Clattercutt Reservoir, which was let down last July, was very low 
all the winter and spring, and over a considerable extent of mud left 
exposed a luxuriant marsh vegetation has come up. Among this a 
Whimbrel was feeding on May 9th and 10th; it was fairly tame, and I 
got a good view of it with the glasses. It seems probable that Goldfinches 
are increasing slightly, as I have seen three pairs this season (one of which 
was feeding “ branchers” on June 18th), whereas for several years past I 
have rarely seen a bird of this kind all the summer. A Common Tern was 
caught by a dog on the canal near Banbury early in June. On the 20th 
I waded out to a very pretty Coot’s nest, moored in water about two and a 
half feet deep; the upper portion of the nest was formed almost exclusively 
of the fresh flowering plants of Nasturtiwn amphibium, together with a few 
of Ranunculus sceleratus. Mr. Bartlett informs me that about the end of 
May he saw two pairs of the Cirl Bunting uear South Newington. He 
knows the bird, and particularly noticed the black throats of the males. 
About the end of December, 1870, eight of these birds were shot from a 
small party feeding on hay seeds close to Banbury ; I saw two of them, a 
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